The figures published by the Electoral Commission today showed that the Conservative Party received £3.2m between October and December, while Labour received £2.3m.

In total, political parties received £34.6m from donors and £9.1m in state funding during the course of 2011 - and owe £14.7m in loans.

Electoral Commission analysis showed that £1.75m of the Labour income came from trade unions in the last quarter - with £649,092 from the GMB the biggest single donation.

The Tory coffers were significantly swelled by the £600,000 proceeds of the National Conservative Draws Society.

Among cash flowing into Labour's coffers was £121,440 from property entrepreneur Andrew Rosenfeld - appointed as a senior Labour adviser by leader Ed Miliband last year - who has promised the party £1m.